Dispenser for plastic strapping



Oct. 18, 1966 R. J. GOULD ET AL DISPENSER FOR PLASTIC STRAPPING Filed May 5, 1965 INVENTORS: RUSSELL J. GOULD BY J 0H N W- SANDE RSON fwd (L.

United States Patent 3,279,590 DISPENSER FOR PLASTIC STRAPPING Russell J. Gould, Arlington Heights, and John W. Sanderson, Chicago, Ill., assignors to Signode Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed May 3, 1965, Ser. No. 452,662 1 Claim. (Cl. 206-52) The improved dispenser comprising the present invention has been designed for use primarily in connection with the dispensing of plastic strapping for use in conjunction with manually or power operated strapping tools which tension the strapping about one or more articles, unite the strap ends, and then sever the strapping to free the strap and the encompassed bundle from the source of strapping in the dispenser. The invention is particularly well adapted for use in connection with the dispensing of narrow plastic strapping, for example strapping having a width on the order of one-half inch, particular problems arising in connection with such strapping that are not prevalent where considerably wider plastic strapping or where less flexible steel strapping is concerned.

The dispenser of the present invention not only facilitates the dispensing of the strapping for use in an adjacent strapping tool, but it also affords a convenient ship ping container by means of which a helically wound coil of strapping, together with a supply of the necessary strapping hardware such as strapping seals or buckles, may be conveniently shipped to a given scene of operation and then, upon opening of the container in a predetermined manner, immediately placed in strapping dispensing service with a minimum of setting up operations.

Heretofore, narrow plastic strapping, when supplied in small quantity, has been ribbon-wound in involute fashion on a central core of small diameter but when it is supplied in appreciable quantity it has been wound in helical fashion on an elongated cylindrical tubular core, the core, in either case, being designed for installation in a mechanical dispensing apparatus including a freely rotatable spindle-supported carrier. Difliculty has been encountered in connection with such dispensing apparatus in preventing iovertravel of the coil and the consequent feeding of a quantity of strapping beyond that required for a given operation. To dampen the momentum of the coil some dispensing apparatus has been provided with frictional retarding means for preventing overrunning of the strapping while other apparatus has been provided with guide tubes for the strapping in an efiort to control any excess feed that may occur. Not only are such dispensing apparatus costly but they require careful manual transfer of the strapping coil from the shipping containers to the dispensing apparatus in order to avoid free strapping unwind and consequent snarling at the time the coils are removed from the containers.

Where narrow plastic strapping is supplied in appreciable quantity and wound in helical fashion on an elongated core as heretofore set forth, it sometimes is put to use without installation in a dispensing apparatus by placing the coil on a stationary support and allowing the strapping to be fed endwise from the coil by a pulling operation. This frequently has resulted in slipping of the end convolutions of the helically wound coil en masse axially from the end of the coil, thus resulting in an uncontrollable tangling and kinking of the strapping which can- Patented Oct. 18, 1966 ice not be remedied. Where a few adjacent outside convolutions slip axially from a coil, it is possible to rewind the coil but where the slippage is in appreciable depth involving underlying convolutions it is utterly impossible to rewind the coil or otherwise untangle the strapping. If the tangled portion of the strapping is severed from the coil for purposes of discard, multiple severing and the creation of a multiplicity of strapping ends leaves but little useable strapping in the coil. It has been found in actual practice that the only remedy in such an instance is for the customer to return the coil to the manufacturer for a new coil, this resulting in a complete loss to the.

manufacturer.

The present invention is designed to overcome the above-noted limitations that are attendant upon the feeding of narrow plastic strapping from a helically Wound coil to a strapping tool, as well as upon the initial setting up operations incident thereto. Toward this end, the invention contemplates the provision of a novel dispensing apparatus for helically wound narrow plastic strapping and which, insofar as its dispensing functions are concerned, requires no separate dispensing apparatus and permits endwise feeding of the strapping without the attendant danger of strapping tangling due to endwise slipping of coil convolutions from the core upon which the coil is wound. The provision of such a dispensing apparatus constituting the principal object of the invention, a further and important object is to provide such an apparatus which may be of carton-like design and configuration so that it may serve as a shipping container for a helically wound coil of strapping and which is so constructed that it may be put into dispensing service at a given scene of operations by the simple expedient of removing the cover member associated with the same, placing the thus opened container on a stationary support in the vicinity of the tool to be employed for tensioning the strapping about an object, and progressively pulling the strapping from the container to the required extent for each strapping operation.

Considering the present strapping dispensing apparatus from the standpoint of its availability as a shipping container, it has heretofore been the practice to ship one or more coils of strapping in a oompartmented paperboard carton or container wherein a first compartment is provided for receiving the strapping coil or coils and a second offset compartment is provided for receiving the necessary hardware such as the strapping seals or buckles, a strapping severing cutter or other appropriate strapping hardware. This has, of necessity, increased the dimensions of the carton beyond the minimum dimensions which otherwise would be required merely to enclose the strapping coil or coils. The present invention obviates this size limitation in that it provides a carton-like dispenser having concentric compartments for a coil of strapping and such hardware respectively and, moreover, utilizes the dividing wall between the two compartments as the actual core upon which the strapping convolutions are wound. The provision of such a carton-like dispenser constitutes another important object of the present invention.

Briefly, in carrying out the above mentioned objects, the invention contemplates the provision of two separable telescopic upper and lower container parts both of which are preferably, but not necessarily, formed in their entirety of paperboard carton stock material. The upper part constitutes a closure for the lower part and when it is removed from the assembly the lower part constitutes the strapping dispenser. The lower part is of rectangular boxlike configuration and presents an open upper square rim. Centered within the lower part with its axis extending vertically is a helically wound coil of strapping, the strapping being wound upon a cylindrical core. The lower rim of the core is effectively seated upon the bottom wall of the lower part and a flat circular disk is eifectively. seated upon the upper rim of the core in concentric relationship. The diameter of the disk is appreciably greater than the diameter of the coil including the strapping so that an annular portion of the disk overhangs the coil and constitutes an upper retaining flange which prevents slipping of the strapping convolution in the upper region of the coil en masse from the free end of the strapping as the latter is pulled manually upwardly for strapping unwinding purposes. The outer periphery of the disk constitutes a circular guide for progressive movement'of the unwind strand of strapping and, because of the appreciable extent of overhang, the strapping is guided from the body of the helical coil with an appreciable component of outward radial movement rather than upward axial or longitudinal movement. The four vertical sides of the. lower part, in combination with the core, the bottom wall and the overhanging portion of the circular disk, define an annular compartment within which the coiled strapping is confined and for the most part concealed. The four walls further limit spiral expansion of the strapping to a safe degree when the various convolutions of the coil tend to adjust themselves due to release of the centripetal binding force which normally holds them against the core under the influence of the initial tight winding of the strapping on the core.

Where the lower part is formed of paperboard material, the central region of the disk is precut and scored to provide a hinged closure flap which normally closes the upper end of the tubular core. This flap may be raised by bending the same on its score line to expose the interior of the core. The interior of the core may thus conveniently be employed as a storage space for such strapping hardware as may be supplied with the strapping, for example strapping seals or buckles.

Other features of novelty and additional advantages of the invention will be described in detail as the following description ensues.

In the accompanying single sheet of drawings forming a part of this specification, one exemplary embodiment of the invention has been shown.

In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective View of a strapping dispenser constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention, the dispenser assuming the form of a shipping carton and the carton being shown in a partiaHy open condition;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the closed dispensing carton, a portion ofthe cover top wall being broken away to more clearly reveal the nature of the invention; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 3--3 of FIG. 2 but with the parts shown in the positions which they assume in FIG. 1.

Referring now to the drawings in detail a strapping dispenser assembly constructed according to the present invention has been designated in its entirety at 10. In the exemplary form of the invention selected for illustration herein, the dispenser assembly is designed to serve a dual function, namely to provide a source of strapping material from which lengths of strapping may successively be withdrawn in a convenient manner for application to various strapping tools, and also to serve as a shipping container by means of which the strapping may be transported from the factory to the consumer in the field. Accordingly in the illustrated form of the invention the dispenser assembly, in the main, has been constructed from paperboard carton stock and includes a dispenser proper 12 and a cover or closure member 14 therefor. It is however within the purview of the present invention todispense with the shipping function, in which case the closure member 14 maybe omitted and the dispenser proper 12 constructed of a material other than paperboard, for example, sheet metal.

In the interests of clarity, in the following description the dispenser assembly as a whole and including the dispenser proper 12 and closure member 14 will be referred to as the dispensing carton, while the dispenser proper 12 will be referred to simply as the dispenser.

The dispenser 12 involves in its general organization a relatively shallow open tray like structure including a rectangular bottom wall 16, and four upstanding marginal side walls 18 presenting an open rectangular rim 20. In horizontal cross section, the dispenser 12 is of square outline.

Effectively seated upon the bottom wall 16 in centered relationship is a tubular cylindrical core 22 the axis of which extends vertically. A helically wound coil 24 0f strapping material S (FIG. 1) is tightly wound upon the core 22 and is coextensive with the height or longitudinal extent of the core. The strapping S is essentially formed of a plastic material which possesses an appreciable .de-

gree of resiliency and it isof relatively narrow ribbonlike configuration having awidth on the order of one-half inch. The height of the core preferably is such that: a large number of adjacent convolutions of the strapping may occupy closely adjacent or contiguous positions in the helically wound coil and the radial extent of the coil is such that a large number of such convolutions maybe radially superimposed upon one another.

- To maintain the core 22 in its centered relationship on the bottom wall 16, a series of three centering and ,re-.

taining strips 26 of paperboard material which are generally U-shape in vertical cross section are .formed with bottom flaps 28 which are secured by a suitable adhesive such as glue in face-to-face contact with the bottom wall 16. The strips 26 are provided withvertical web portions 30 which assume a chordal relationship with respect to the core 22 and with horizontal top flaps 32 which overlie the botom flaps 28 in vertically spaced relationship. The height of the web portions 30 is equal to the height of the core 26 so that the top flaps 32 over? lie and rest upon the upper. rim of the core.

The three top flaps 32 are thus coplanar and they have secured thereto as by gluing a relatively large fiat circular disk 34 which is coaxial with the core 22 and the diameter of which may be substantially equal to or slightly less than a transverse dimension of the bottom wall 16. The peripheral regions of the disk 34 thus overhangs the upper rim of the core 22 and it also overhangs the outer or distal edges of the top flaps 32 of the retaining strips 26 as clearly shown in FIG. 3. A radial slit 36 is formed in the peripheral edge region of the disk 34 and serves a purpose that will be made. clear presently. The height of the core 22 is somewhat greater than the height of the side walls so that the circular disk 34 lies in a horizontal plane which is spaced upwardly a short distance.

vertical line contact along their end edges with theinside The thus confined core cylindrical surface of the core. is incapable of axial shifting either longitudinally or transversely but it is free to rotate although it is frictionally restrained against such rotation.

The circular paperboard disk 34 is precut on a circular bias as indicated at 40 and throughout an arcuate extent of approximately 315 to provide a generally circular. closure flap 42 which is joined to the remainder of the disk 34 by a score or crease line 44. Normally, when the closure flap is in its closed position, it lies entirely within the general plane of the disk 34 but it is capable of being raised out of such plane to afford access to the interior of the core 26. The circular arcuate contour of the precut line 40 is interrupted by a small arcuate offset 46, thus defining a small tab or flap 48 which may be depressed by the finger of the operator so that the rim of the flap 42 may be engaged for flap-lifting purposes. After an initial depression of the tab the bias given to the same is residual so that thereafter the rim of the closure flap 42 will at all times be accessible for lifting purposes.

The space 50 within the core 26 and beneath the flap 42 affords a convenient storage space for small items of strapping hardware such as strapping seals or buckles by means of which the overlapping portions of an encircling band or strap which is applied to an article or bundle by a strapping tool may be united. Such items may be supplied with the packaged strapping in the dispenser assembly and, if desired, a shearing device such as a cut-off knife or shears may also be stored within the space 50.

The closure member 14 is in the form of an inverted tray-like structure having a rectangular top wall 52 conformable in size and shape to the size and shape of the bottom wall 16 and having a continuous depending marginal side wall 54 designed for telescopic reception over the marginal side walls 18. When the closure member 14 is in position on the dispenser 12, the top wall 52 thereof rests upon the circular disk 32 and the lower open rim 56 of the marginal side wall 54 is coplanar with the bottom wall 16 of the dispenser. The height of the marginal side wall 54 is thus substantially equal to the height of the web portions 30 of the retaining strips 26 plus the two paperboard thicknesses of material represented by the bottom wall 16 and disk 34.

In the operation of the dispensing assembly or carton 10, the closure member 14 is removed and the dispenser proper 12 is positioned adjacent the workbench or other support for the article or articles undergoing strapping, preferably on the floor and immediately behind the operator. The operator will then grasp the free end portion of the strapping S (FIG. 1) which protrudes upwardly beyond the slit 36 and, before withdrawing the strapping from the slit, he may pull the strapping lengthwise until any looseness in the surface convolutions of the strapping coil resulting from a previous operation has been taken up. In thus pulling the strapping lengthwise through the slit 46, the operator need have no concern as to the possibility of overtensioning the strapping to such an extent as to deform the side edges of the slit 46 inasmuch as when all looseness has been taken up, torque will be applied to the coil of strapping 24 and the coil will yield due to the fact that it is not fixedly held against rotation. Experience and the degree of tension encountered by the hand of the operator will indicate when such looseness has been fully taken up. At this time a straight tangential length of strapping will extend from the outer periphery of the coil directly to the slit 46. All of the strapping in the coil will lie entirely within the extended cylindrical confines of the disk 34 and there will be no loose strapping in the annulus 60 afforded in the outer regions of the dispenser as defined by the core 22, continuous side wall 18, bottom wall 16 and disk 34.

After the operator has thus been assured that all of the strapping within the annulus 60 is under sufiicient tension to preclude the possibility of there being any loose strapping which might interfere with proper unwinding of the strapping from the coil 24, the free end region of the strapping may then he slid sidewise from the slit 36 and thereafter the strapping may be manually pulled in a generally vertical direction and conducted to the strapping tool for operative installation therein. In thus pulling the strapping, the peripheral edge of the disk 34 will function as a guide for the strapping which will slide progressively and continuously in a circular path on this circular path on this circular edge as the strapping unwinds from the coil. Usually one arms length of strapping, unwound in this manner will sufiice for any given single strapping operation. Since the diameter of the disk 34 is large, twisting of the strapping will be maintained at a minimum but such twisting as does occur may be readily dissipated by employing a loose grip on the strapping just before insertion thereof into the strapping tool. Proper placement of the dispenser in the vicinity of the working area will be conducive toward maximum ease in unwinding the strapping from the coil 24 but in the event that the most judicious placement of the dispenser is not resorted to, as for example by a first time operator, a pull on the strapping which has an insufficient component of vertical movement to cause the strapping to clear the remote rim region of the disk 34 during the unwinding operation will result in a circumferential yielding or shifting of the core 22 and coil 24 mounted thereon, thus relieving tension against the peripheral rim of the disk and preventing damage to the latter or to the strapping.

Ordinarily a dispensing carton which has been transported to a given scene of operations and set up for dispensing purposes will not be transferred to a different location and therefore the closure member 14 may be discarded as soon as the carton has been opened. However, if desired, the closure member may be replaced on the dispenser 12 if desired if a prolonged idle period is contemplated.

The invention is not to be limited to the exact arrangement of parts shown in the accompanying drawings or described in this specification as various changes in the details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention. Therefore, only insofar as the invention has particularly been pointed out in the accompanying claim is the same to be limited.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A dispenser for supplying narrow ribbontype plastic strapping to a strapping tool which is maintained in an elevated working area adjacent the dispenser and above thelevel of the latter, said dispenser comprising an open tray-like structure having a generally square bottom wall adapted for positioning on a support below the level of said working area, and an upstanding continuous vertical marginal side wall, an open-ended tubular cylindrical core upon which the strapping is adapted to be helically wound effectively supported on said bottom wall in centered relationship thereon and extending vertically upwardly therefrom, a plurality of circumferentially spaced centering and retaining strips for centering said core in its supported position on said bottom wall while permitting rotation of the coil, said strips being generally U-shape in vertical cross section and of appreciable width and including spaced apart horizontal top and bottom flaps and vertical connecting web portions, said bottom flaps being fixedly secured to said bottom wall in coextensive face-to-face contact therewith and underlying the lower rim of the core, said top flap overlying and bearing against the upper open rim of the core, the web portions of the strips extending in chordal relationship with respect to the core and having their opposite vertical edges making vertical line contact with the inner cylindrical surface of the core, all of said flaps extending generally radially of the core and projecting outwardly beyond the cylindrical confines thereof, a flat circular disk fixedly secured to and supported upon said top flaps i-n centered relationship with respect to the core and having its peripheral regions overhanging the upper rim of the core whereby said overhanging regions and bottom wall serve to confine the wound strapping therebetween, the diameter of the disk being no greater than a transverse dimension of the bottom wall, the outer circular edge of the disk at four circumferentially spaced points therearound extending in close proximity to the upper rectangulat rim of said continuous side wall, said disk being precut to provide a flat hinged closure flap for the interior of the core and which is joined to the remainder of the disk by a hinge line, said flap normally lying in the plane of the disk but being capable of angular displacement whereby articles of strapping hardware housed within the core are accessible through the upper rim of the core, the peripheral region of the disk being formed with an inwardly extending slit therein for retaining the free end of the strapping when the dispenser is not in use and in which slit the strapping is slidable lengthwise when pulling References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1950 Horvath 20647 X 9/1961 Hirst 242128 10 LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner. 

